I came across a company call Stellar Rigs who claim to be selling some pretty cool carbine conversion kits for 1911 and Glock pistol made by “Mec-Tec”
The website is out of date and I do not know if the kits are still sold. I do know that in most Western countries converting a pistol into a rifle is not allowed. UPDATE: I was wrong. See comments below.
UPDATE:
Some more photos from gunbroker
Comment Policy: I reserve the right to remove comments at my discretion. Think of comment threads like a dinner party at someone's house. If you make the party unpleasant for others or me, you won't be invited back. I am happy to tolerate a wide range of viewpoints, even extreme ones, but I'm not going to tolerate nastiness, rudeness, trolling, vitriol, or excessive snarkiness toward the author(s) or other commenters. You may make your case passionately, but civility is expected. Please stay on topic and respect the technical nature of this blog.
Spam Filtering: To avoid spam, comments are filtered using Akismet and then manually approved. Do not be alarmed if you comment does not appear instantly. I do not check the spam folder more than once per day.
You cannot add a shoulder stock to a pistol without registering it as a short-barreled rifle (SBR) and paying the tax. An SBR is defined as having a barrel of less than 16″. These “Carbine kits” have 16″ barrels with the shoulder stock and so are therefore legal – you are taking a formerly “concealable” pistol and making it into a non-concealable rifle.
Going the other way – converting a rifle into a “pistol” is not permitted without further ATF taxes and approvals.
Thanks Beamish for that infomation. You are right!
I was not aware pistol to rifle conversions were legal but your explanation makes complete sense.
Apparently under Californian law it is illegal:
“Although the product of itself is legal, the resulting combination with a pistol frame becomes illegal under California law” from http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=80662811.
As far as I know in many other countries it is illegal as pistol are classified differently to rifle in the local laws.
I have this conversion for a Glock 17. I was given to me after a friend passed away. I do not have any paper work for it but was wondering how you break it down?? Can you help me
@ Steve:
The best thing would be to contact the manufacturer for a manual.
I have one of these for my Kimber Classic (1911) and the carbine conversion unit (CCU) makes for a great “plinker.” CCU’s maker (Mech Tech System in Montana) has updated the styling, adding as M4-style options such as collapsible stocks, “iron” sights, and Picatinny rails all along the barrel shrouds.
See their Web site:
http://www.mechtechsys.com/
Which should also help the poster who’s looking for help in breaking down the CCU.
I wonder how such a long barrel manages to tilt when fired without stressing the pistol too much…
Carl, the barrel doesn’t tilt. The carbine conversion has a fixed barrel. The only parts of the pistol used are the frame assembly and magazine.